Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction TypeHoch, August
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Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type
Hoch, August
Manic-depressive illness; Stupor
On the fourth day, i.e., January 26, the picture altered,
inasmuch as she was much more responsive. She was found
sitting up in bed and, at times, a little uneasy. She was
slow in her movements and answers, speaking in a whisper
and sometimes a little fretfully. The answers, though slow,
were, however, by no means given in the shortest possible
manner, but with variations, e.g., from “I don’t know,” to
“I could not tell you,” or “I can’t tell that either.” She
said herself that everything had “been so dark--it is light
now, but it gets so dark sometimes.” She denied knowing
where she was, even in what city, also denied knowing the
month, adding to the latter answer “the nurse can tell
you.” She could not tell where she had been before coming
to the hospital, or how she came. Finally, she also claimed
not to know her age, her birthday or the date of her
marriage; but she gave the current year correctly, the
place where she went to school, the names of some of her
teachers, and the year of her arrival in the United States.
She also stated in answer to questions that she came to the
hospital “to get well.” She repeatedly said “I am so sick,”
or “I am so stupid,” or “My mind is mixed up, twisted,” or
“My mind is not so good,” or “I am so tired.” What could be
obtained of a content was as follows: When she spoke of
being “twisted,” she said, “I got all kinds of medicine.”
(How does it affect you?) “Through my head and it made me
hot inside.” Again, when asked whether anybody had done
anything to her, she said “No, I have done wrong myself, by
speaking bad of my neighbors.” She claimed to hear voices
“all over,” but could not tell what they said. When, in the
evening of that day, the nurse asked her why she did not
talk more, she said, “God damn it, I am all twisted, my
brain is mixed up, my system is all upset, the doctor made
me stupid with questions, and the medicine I have taken
made me all stupid and I am inhaling gas now.” Then she
again settled into a dull state and was found by the
physician with immobile expression, slow motions and mute.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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